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Amelia Barnhard
]] Amelia Barnhard (5 June 1901 - 6 October 1983) was a Brunanter actress, filmmaker, novelist and poet, considered the first female film director in Brunant. Her career in cinema spanned more than 30 years, during which she directed almost 20 films, ranging from fantasy to drama and thriller. Among her best known films are The Dwarf and the Girl (1926), The Flower (1926), The Face of Darkness (1930) and The Apprentice of the Shoe Maker (1948). She also wrote one novel and a three poetry collections. Biography Early life Amelia Barnhard was born in Koningstad on 5 June 1901. Her father Alfred was a tailor with an upscale clientele, which included Joseph Hertz and R.A. Gilmour. Since Amelia was their only child, Alfred wanted her to carry on the family name. Her mother Maartje, however, had faith in Amelia and believed that her daughter's future was in show business or the arts. Indeed, she began to paint at the age of four and wrote her first poem a few years later. She also became interested in music and took piano lessons, which she stopped at the age of sixteen. ]] After finishing school, Amelia worked at her father's side for several years. Around 1922, she met a client of her father, businessman Domenicus Pauw, who was also a film producer and a partner of Joseph van Marwijk. Pauw was more than twenty years older than Amelia, but they never tried to hide their relationship. Through Pauw, Amelia met some of the most important figures of Brunanter cinema at the time, including van Marwijk and Joe Bertin. The couple got married in late 1923. Entering films Amelia got her first role in 1924, in van Marwijk's short Mark and Liesbet. She went on to appear in two more films produced by her husband and she soon was interested in getting behind the camera. Amelia made her first film in 1926. It was The Dwarf and the Girl, a short film based on Johannes Gottschalk Meinhardt's tale of the same name. It was one of the first fantasy films in Brunanter history and was highly influential to the next generations. The same year, she directed her first feature film, The Flower, starring highly-esteemed stage actor George Waugh. Between 1927 and 1929, Amelia directed two more feature films, Days of Grief (1927) and The House upon the Hill (1928). Her second and final short film, The Christmas Tree (1929), was based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree. Although her films amazed the audience, there were quite a few critics, who did not approve of a woman director in an industry dominated by men. ''The Face of Darkness'' and afterwards The Face of Darkness is widely considered Barnhard's masterpiece and one of the finest Brunanter silent films. Inspired by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and other dark films of German Expressionist cinema, it was completed in 1930. Initially, the critical assessment of The Face of Darkness was mediocre, with some critics disliking the morbidity of the subject matter. It was, however, a financial success. Around 1931, American sound films had infiltrated the domestic market. This, combined with the Great Depression, resulted in a financial catastrophe of the Brunanter production companies, most of which could not compete with the American talkies. Pauw, however, managed to obtain the equipment needed to make such films. Amelia's first talkies were quite successful, but today, they are deemed rather inferior to her previous work, with the except of Pain (1931). In 1933, she made a series of short documentaries revolved around the life of the Royal Family. Pauw died unexpectedly in 1935. His production company, Pauw Film, passed to Amelia and his brother, Sebastian. Devastated, Amelia stopped making films for a couple of years. She returned in 1937 with Moonlight, a romantic drama. A year later, she made her last pre-war film, The Church. During and after the war In 1942, the Nazis confiscated the equipment of most film production companies, including that of Pauw Film. Amelia moved with her daughter to her late husband's cottage near Cornel. She stayed there until the end of the Nazi occupation, spending her time writing poems and film screenplays. After the war, Amelia was hired by Europa Films. Her first film was The Apprentice of the Shoemaker (1948), depicting the difficulties of post-war Brunant. Today, it is considered to be her finest talking movie. Her next project, The Handsome Spaniard (1949), based on Charlotte Coutts' story of the same name, was quite successful, but today, it is largely forgotten. Amelia directed a few more films for Europa Films and distanced herself away from cinema in 1955. Literary career and later years Amelia focused on writing and published three poetry collections between 1956 and 1959. In 1960, she was invited (alongside Fabian Barthols, Ennio Pazzini and Jan Rotterdammer) to participate in an anthology film, Stories from Koningstad, which came to be her last film. In late 1960's, John Barker persuaded Amelia to become the president of Rosetown Film Festival and she held this position until 1974. In 1980, after five years, Amelia completed her only novel, The Girl who wanted to become a Swan. Although it revolves around an aspiring young ballet dancer, it bears strong aubiographical elements. Amelia Barnhard died on October 6, 1983, while asleep. Personal life Amelia Barnhard married Domenicus Pauw on 1 December 1923. They were a happy couple, but they regularly argued about having children, as Amelia wanted to dedicate herself to cinema. Eventually, she gave birth to Anneke, their only child, on 3 February 1929. Amelia was close friends with actresses Josephine Berner and Martha Buddock. Legacy For many years, Barnhard's creations were overlooked in favour of films made by Joseph van Marwijk or Andrew Ginn. However, around the time of her death, she had gained the reputation of a pioneer filmmaker and a dynamic woman. As Nathalie Jonker put it, Amelia "put more heart in her films than anyone at her time". Film critic Joris Thiessen considers her "criminally underrated" and placed two of her films, The Dwarf and the Girl and The Face of Darkness, on his list with the ten most important films of the silent era. Selected filmography As actress * 1924 - Mark and Liesbet * 1925 - The Blossoms of Cornel * 1925 - Bitter Life As director Short films *1926 - The Dwarf and the Girl *1929 - The Christmas Tree Feature films *1926 - The Flower *1927 - Days of Grief *1928 - The House upon the Hill *1930 - The Face of Darkness *1931 - Pain *1937 - Moonlight *1938 - The Church *1948 - The Apprentice of the Shoemaker *1949 - The Handsome Spaniard *1951 - A City of Rain *1960 - Stories from Koningstad (segment "Johan and Renate") Category:Actors Category:Directors Category:Screenwriters Category:Producers Category:Writers Category:Poets Category:1901 births Category:Dead people